70 THE WOODSMAN’S HANDBOOK. 
A METHOD USED IN OPEN WOODS. 
In portions of the southern pine belt a less systematic method is 
used. The cruiser has a compassman who runs a line through the 
center of the ‘‘forty’’ while he himself, usually mounted, rides back © 
and forth and views, estimates, or, if possible, counts all of the 
timber on the ‘‘forty,”’ being guided by his ability to estimate dis- 
tances and by the position of the compassman. By the use of the 
Doyle Rule, the contents of the average tree is guessed at, and the 
total estimate thus obtained from the count. 
Covering Only Part of the Area. 
In many regions the brush is so thick that it is useless to attempt 
to count ali the timber; and where the growth is small and the 
individual tree comparatively unimportant, the labor involved 
in counting is not justified. When a survey of the whole tract is 
definitely abandoned, and it is decided to measure accurately only 
a part of it, the total area of the tract must be known, and also the 
exact area to be covered by the cruiser. Also the stand on this 
subarea must typify the stand of the whole tract. Any difference 
between the two is the chief source of error, and this liability to 
error can be minimized only by increasing the proportion of the 
area covered to a point where the resulting average tallies with 
that of the whole stand. 
A METHOD USED IN THE LAKE STATES. 
A method in common use by cruisers in the Lake States as giving 
good results in all classes of timber is as follows: The cruiser through 
practice is able to judge his pace, so that he takes 2,000 steps to 
the mile. Starting from the corner of a section, ora forty, he paces 
along the line of the ‘‘forty”’ a distance of 125 steps, or one-fourth of 
the length of it; then he turns at a right angle along the center line 
of one-half of the ‘‘forty,’’ and goes 2,000 steps, or the 1 mile to the 
edge of the section. (Fig. 2.) All the trees are counted on a strip 
8 rods wide, or 25 steps on either side of this line across the section. 
Then on the side of the section opposite to the one on which he 7 | 
started an offset of 250 steps is made, or 40 rods, and a strip run back 
through the center of the next half. The area of two 500-foot strips 
in each forty is equal to just 20 per cent of the “‘forty,’’ or8 acres. The 
